FAIRHOPE, Alabama — The Rock Creek Junior Golf Camp gave Brendan Kastner the opportunity to resume playing a game he enjoys while helping improve his skill level. "I haven’t golfed in a long time so they are teaching me more about hitting the ball soft because I like to power smash it," the 11-year old Daphne resident said. "They are teaching me to swing smooth. "They are teaching me about everything, really. Golf is mature, you have to be quiet and have a lot of respect." According to Kastner, attending the camp had a lot of appeal. "I like putting, and I have a lot of friends here," Kastner said. The camp drew children ages 7-12. "The main purpose of a camp like this to get kids excited about golf," said Jonathan Martin, the golf instructor at Rock Creek. "We want them excited about the idea of coming out to the golf course and having a good time. We want that first and foremost, then we try to get some fundamentals about golf and some basic instructions."

Martin said younger players often have to overcome some technique problems when getting started. "The main difficulty is just getting them squared up and aligned with the target and getting the swing under control," Martin said. "The thing about kids and adults, adults will learn habits over the years and they’ve got habits that need to be broken. Kids don’t have any bad habits so once you can get them and teach them correctly the first time then you’ve got them." There is currently a push to get more children involved in the game of golf. "The trend right now is the PGA has a number of programs geared toward kids and you see a lot more interested in getting kids out there these days," Martin said. "There are a lot of programs in the inner cities. The PGA is really geared to getting people who are not accessible to golf and trying to get them involved with it. In places like Fairhope and Daphne, and the fact they have these opportunities, I think the kids are pretty consistently into it and I am happy to see this many out here." Rock Creek has concluded its junior camps for the summer, but still has other opportunities for children to get involved. A Date Night Junior Clinic is available every other Friday — June 22, July 6 and 20 — where parents can drop off children ages 7-up for golf instructions from 6-8 p.m. The cost is $15 and includes a kids meal. "This is it for us as far as the camps, but we have Friday nights and other things for the kids," Martin said. "We always have lessons and they are available all of the time."